Information and communication, creative industries

The Munich Metropolitan Region is a top venue for Europe's information and communication (I&C) industry and for its media sector. The cultural and creative industries contain many natural overlaps with the I&C industry – and likewise occupies a pre-eminent position in the region.

240000

I&C employees

22000

I&C companies

14,4

percent of Germany's entire
cultural and creative industry

Information and communication

In the Munich Metropolitan Region, the Munich and Augsburg agglomerations lead the field in the I&C industry. Many of the biggest names in software and hardware (including Microsoft, Google, Amazon, Intel, Adobe, Siemens and Infineon) are based in the region, as are key telecom players such as Telefonica Germany GmbH & Co. OHG.

The region is also excellently positioned in every aspect of the media sector – from print shops and publishing through TV and radio (with the likes of BR, ProSiebenSat1 Media and Sky) to film production and the wider film industry (Bavaria Filmstudios, Arnold&Richter Cine Technik and P+S Technik), not forgetting the Internet and multimedia segments.

Over 5,000 media companies and more than 22,000 I&C firms have established their base in the Munich Metropolitan Region. The spectrum covers everything from software and advertising to journalism, publishing, cable and network operators, parts and components, terminal equipment and distribution. In excess of 240,000 employees in the I&C and media industries generate revenues of over 70 billion euros a year.

Corporate R&D projects enjoy close links to research organizations of the caliber of the Fraunhofer Institute for Embedded Systems and Communication Technologies and institutes of higher education such as the HFF University of Television and Film Munich. A plentiful supply of highly qualified and well-motivated young talent is also ensured by numerous study courses in information technology, electrical engineering, journalism and media science at the region's various universities.

Cultural and creative industries

The cultural and creative industries make a considerable contribution to gross domestic product (GDP), trailing only the automotive and chemical sectors and constituting the third-largest branch of industry. In the Munich Metropolitan Region, these industries combine a diverse array of small, medium-sized and large companies that blend traditional cultural disciplines with today's innovation-driven creative industry. Their importance transcends the region and has an impact throughout Germany.

In 2012, EMM e.V. cooperated with several partners to commission a data report on the cultural and creative industries in the Munich Metropolitan Region. The findings made a clear statement that surpassed the expectations of initiators and experts alike: 117,000 people are gainfully employed in the region's cultural and creative industries. The 29,000 companies that make up these industries generate annual revenues of 20 billion euros. These figures mean that the cultural and creative industries together account for 10 percent of all firms, 5 percent of all employees and 4 percent of all revenues in the Munich Metropolitan Region. One particularly remarkable fact is that the region's cultural and creative sector contributes 14.4 percent to total revenues in the same industries nationwide.